Nigeria’s coastal areas are known to present environmental hazards and risks. Oil exploration and exploitation is one source of these hazards. Oil spillage, gas flaring, air and water pollution and agricultural land contamination are serious problems in the region, with implications for human and environmental health.

Flooding and erosion are additional sources of danger in the region. Damage from floods is extensive.

Poor sanitation is a third hazard. Poor sanitation practices, poor location of facilities like toilets and kitchens, and the contamination of water sources in oil producing communities expose residents to cholera, typhoid, malaria and dysentery.

Residents’ perceptions of the environmental hazards have not been well explored. It’s important to understand perceptions because they drive behaviour. In looking for ways to avoid, prepare for and respond to hazards and disasters, it is useful to understand what motivates people’s actions.

Research has shown that people take action on threats based on their personal perception of the risk. Perception, in turn, depends on the level of information people have about the risk, personal experience of past events and socioeconomic attributes. It’s also influenced by the quantity of losses people think they can avoid, absorb and tolerate. The type of hazard makes a difference. So does people’s trust in the capability of authorities.

Therefore, in our study we sought to understand what influences the perceptions of people in Delta State when it comes to environmental risks. Understanding what drives their actions could help in finding ways to avoid or cope with risks and disasters.

Read more - https://theconversation.com/oil-hazards-arent-the-main-worry-of-nigerias-coastal-residents-toilets-are-178689